Sunderland scaffolder kicked Royal Navy sailor in head in attack outside takeaway

Scaffolder Rory Douglas pushed the victim to the ground and then kicked him in the face as he tried to get up. He was knocked unconscious and lost two front teeth.

Douglas was working in Devon and the sailor was on leave and they were strangers who had never met before they ended up at the chip shop in the centre of Torquay.

CCTV showed a group of men mingling around and Douglas going head to head with the victim before launching the attack, which was apparently sparked by a dispute over spilled chips.

The footage showed that one of the other people who intervened to stop the violence was dressed in a blue Smurf costume. Douglas said his kick was ‘horrendous’ when police played him the video.

Douglas, 35, of Antwerp Road, Sunderland, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for a year, suspended for two years, by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court.

He was also ordered to do 100 hours unpaid community work, six days of rehabilitation activities and to pay £5,000 compensation and £1,200 costs.

The judge told him: “There was a confrontation outside the takeaway and I have seen the CCTV. There is some reference to chips being dropped and it seems you were aggressive.

“You described yourself as being seven or eight out of ten drunk and within five seconds you had kicked him in the head.”

Mr Tom Bradnock, prosecuting, said the attack happened at 2.20 am on Saturday July 25, 2020, and left the sailor needing stitches for a cut to his tongue and mouth and an operation on his teeth.

He was recalled to hospital the day after his release after contracting a parasitic infection, possibly from Douglas’s shoe.

Mr Adrian Chaplin, defending, said Douglas had shown remorse when shown the footage and described his kick as horrendous.

He works as a scaffolding supervisor and has been offered a lucrative contract in Northern Ireland which would enable him to pay compensation while completing community work during return visits to the North East.

He has already taken action to stop drinking and has only been out once in the past year.